What does the [Flags] Enum Attribute mean in C#?

Question

From time to time I see an enum like the following:

[Flags]
public enum Options 
{
    None    = 0,
    Option1 = 1,
    Option2 = 2,
    Option3 = 4,
    Op         


        

Answer 1

When working with flags I often declare additional None and All items. These are helpful to check whether all flags are set or no flag is set.

[Flags] 
enum SuitsFlags { 

    None =     0,

    Spades =   1 << 0, 
    Clubs =    1 << 1, 
    Diamonds = 1 << 2, 
    Hearts =   1 << 3,

    All =      ~(~0 << 4)

}

Usage:

Spades | Clubs | Diamonds | Hearts == All  // true
Spades & Clubs == None  // true

 
Update 2019-10:

Since C# 7.0 you can use binary literals, which are probably more intuitive to read:

[Flags] 
enum SuitsFlags { 

    None =     0b0000,

    Spades =   0b0001, 
    Clubs =    0b0010, 
    Diamonds = 0b0100, 
    Hearts =   0b1000,

    All =      0b1111

}